Attack of the flying vegetables!

So I know down here in NOLA we do things a little different.  As with every holiday we take it to the extreme.  So OF COURSE for St. Paddy's Day we are all Irish for a day.  The beer and whiskey are flowing and we are having PARADES.  Because we will find literally any reason to have a freaking parade. 

I know I know, so many cities have parades for St. Patrick's Day, we aren't special.  But we kind of are.  So like everywhere else we have marching groups and bands...and floats...that we throw stuff off of....

So like Mardi Gras a bunch of drunk people hum things off of floats at your face.  Unlike Mardi Gras those things include more than Beads, Cups, Stuffed Animals.  Here in NOLA we do something REALLY weird.  We throw VEGETABLES.  No but for real.  Where I come from, it ain't a St Paddy's Day parade unless you can make groceries while you are there. 

They throw a bit of everything but mainly cabbage, carrots, potatoes, & onions.  Its not uncommon to hear the chant "cabbage, cabbage, cabbage"...or pick a veggie, people will chant it.  This year I caught a ton of lemons and oranges.  No really, 7 cabbages, 5 Onions, 15 mutant carrots, 19 potatoes, and 22 lemons...TWENTY TWO. 

Not my Pic LINK

Don't worry nothing goes to waste.  I literally make a giant pot of veggie soup and share what we can't eat with family and friends not at the parade. Moving on. 

Yesterday was like all the rest. I got the veggies, some tiny bags of chips, and Irish Spring Soap (hahaha).  As the parade was coming to an end, a bag of brown rice landed at my feet...INTACT *what*.  As I turned to pick it up something large wacked me in the back of the head.  It hit me so hard my head flew forward.  At first I was just like...

By the end, my head was throbbing and felt a little...off. 

I probably should not have driven home.  Not because of alcohol...I am fairly certain I had a minor concussion.  By the time I got home I was dizzy, nauseous, and in pain.  I think I am okay now but all day I had a lingering headache and my neck is killing me! 

I am not sure what hit me.  Maybe a pack of beads...maybe a cabbage. 

Whatever it was hurt like a mo-fo.  At least I made it home safe.  Death by cabbage, is not something I want on my tombstone.

Lesson - NEVER LOOK AWAY FROM A FLOAT. I am a local...I should know better....